Some of the kids from first class along with our visitors from South Florida on August 13th, 2005. Thanks to everyone for making the trip.

I often find the classes I dread the most turn out to be the best. Perhaps I've had a bad day, and would like nothing more than to take the day off. Lately, I've been at the computer too much, (ah, the travesty of having a real job, too), and don't want to stress my joints too much. Almost invariably, I find the class to be good. My joints put themselves back in the right places. Class goes smoothly, or it will even be a breakthrough. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the classes that I go into expecting to go excellently deliver my ego a blow. This includes teaching and learning. As with many things in karate, this seems counter to logic. If I'm psyched up, focused, shouldn't class go well? If karate did work logically like that, it wouldn't work. It wouldn't strengthen your weakest link, as it is designed to. That's the great thing about karate vs many other less wholistic forms of exercise. Exercise adherence is actually a research topic in my some physical education programs. Like dieting, it's one of those things that people try for a little while, and stop. lirinfae discusses some of the reasons people quit karate, but I actually think adherence is alot better in martial arts due to the above mentioned reason.. among others, but that's a topic for another blog entry. Think of someone you know who has attained some rank in the martial arts. Now think of people you know in other disciplines who have continued with that kind of longevity. I am hard pressed to think of people in other areas who continue their physical exertions with that kind of longevity. The reasons for quitting karate are many, but these obstactes are the reason one comes to karate in the first place. Sure, burnout happens. In karate and in real life. Surmount that obstactle, strengthen that link. Injury? Health is probably one of the reasons for starting karate. Learn to not get injured! Strengthen that link. Politics? Also real life. Use the microcosm of the dojo to discover how to handle these issues elsewhere. Other commitment is a hard one, but ask yourself, can you meet these commitments to other people, if you can not meet a commitment to yourself? Viewed from the other angle, learning to keep commitments to yourself will discipline you to meet them with other people. Strengthen that link. So, next time you feel like stopping, look for the weak link. It doesn't take heroic effort, it just takes a small thing, insignificant. Get up. Go. You made it. now go home. rest. repeat.

I've always been a kata-type of karateka. Kata comes first, and kata comes last. No matter where I am, I can do kata, even if I can't move, I can still do kata. But sparring brings people to the dojo. There's something visceral about the fight, even if sparring only exercises certain aspects of the fighting instinct which we try to cultivate through karate. Also, sparring is easy. Block. Punch. Kick. There's you, and there's a very concrete bad guy. (Despite this, my hands end up getting assulted alot more than the target areas..) Kata is hard. It's abstract. Where are you supposed to hit? Who? Why? Unlocking this puzzle is a large part of what kata is for, but enjoying that kind of challenge seems to be an acquired taste for most. I've been working alot with my students on form. I don't push, because most of my students are kids, but I do try to come up with games and tools to bring that zenkutsu dachi into alignment; to make that gaze stay on the imaginary opponent. (The kids do love the theatrics of imaginary opponents). So I've decided shift to being more of a sparring dojo. We'll see where it takes the students, and where it takes me. To begin with, I am going to ramp up to sparring in each class, and see how this effects the form and function of my students' technique. Is this a cop-out? No, kata is still central for me, and it won't go away in class no matter what happens. Call this an experiment, for which the experimental out come is stronger kata, and always, stronger students.

Kata can be difficult to get kids into. I used the recent Halloween to get the class thinking about being in character. This worked pretty well and you could actually see them looking at their imaginary attackers, though of course they were a bit silly at times. We went from this into bunkai. The group was sufficient to do a "three attacker" scenario. The silliness reached a new level here at times, but I think it solidified the imaginary concept. We'll see next week...